Compassion
by carefreekutie
Summary: It's amazing what just a little compassion can accomplish. After the war, all the students are returning to Hogwarts for a do-over year. The Slytherins have fallen from grace and are hated by almost the entire school, and for the first time are on the receiving end of prejudices. However, a little kindness from one Gryffindor Head Girl may be just enough to reverse all the damage.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**Disclaimer: This is the only one I'll make for the whole story. I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any money off of this story.**

Draco packed the last of his things in his trunk, then did a quick sweep through his room to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything. Satisfied, he closed his trunk and walked out of his room to head down to breakfast, confident that the House Elves would take care of getting his things to the Hogwarts Express. In about an hour and a half, he'd be on his way back to Hogwarts for a do over year. Because of the events of the war last year, the Ministry strongly encouraged everyone to return to earn a completed education.

In all truthfulness, Draco wasn't in the least bit excited to be going back. In fact, had the decision been up to him, he wouldn't be going at all. However, it was one of the stipulations of his probation from his hearing in June and also an almost direct order from his parents. They believed that this would be the best course of action in an effort to start rebuilding their family name. Though he understood where they were coming from, Draco highly doubted that the Malfoy name would ever come out of the pit they'd dug it into themselves.

He arrived in the dining hall, kissed his mother on the cheek in greeting, gave a nod to his father whom returned it, and settled in at his place to Lucius' left. Once he had sat, everyone began eating in a slightly uncomfortable silence. It was always a silent affair the day before he'd returned to school in the past with his mother trying very hard not to cry, but this time there was a slight nervousness in the air as the Malfoy family honestly had no idea what would be in store for them this year. If the sneers, whispers, and degrading looks in public were anything to go by, it wasn't going to be pretty.

Halfway through the meal, a house elf delivered a letter to Draco, then disappeared with a pop once Draco took it and gave him a polite nod. He scanned the contents, noticing that it was from his friend Blaise, then folded it and put it beside his plate. Feeling eyes on him, he looked up noticing that his parents were staring at him, his mother with a slightly hopeful look and his father's more of curiosity. He put down his fork and sighed.

"No, it wasn't a forgotten letter from the Headmistress. It was just Blaise telling me that he may be slightly later than we agreed on since he's coming from his father's villa in Italy" he answered their unspoken question. His father nodded and went back to his meal, though there was now a slight frown on his features. His mother however let out a deep sigh.

"I can't understand why you weren't offered the position. You've been at the top of your class since your very first year" she said in a dejected tone. She was referring to the Head Boy position. It had been a tradition in the Malfoy family for the last five generations for the heir to receive the position upon returning for their last year at school. It had been done away with in the chaos of the previous year, though Draco wouldn't have been able to do his duties if he wanted to due to the demands of the Dark Lord.

"It shouldn't be this much of a shock. After all, why would they give it to a murderous Death Eater?" Draco muttered sullenly.

"Draco" his father said in warning, shooting a slight worried look at his wife who had tried and failed to stifle a sharp intake of breath at her son's words. The stress of the past few years and aftermath of the war had caught up with her and she'd been prone to strong migraines if she got too upset.

"Well it's true" Draco snapped, dropping his fork to the plate with a clatter. His parents had been confused when he hadn't gotten an accompanying Head Boy letter along with the usual Hogwarts letter sent at the beginning of August. His mother had tried remaining optimistic, saying that maybe they'd just forgotten or would send it later. He of course had known better, though he hadn't said anything until now.

"Draco" his mother said softly, her eyes staring beseechingly at her only child. "You are not now, nor were you ever a murderer."

His temper taking over, he gave a sarcastic snort. "No, just a Death Eater which is so much better. And scum. Oh and let's not forget my personal favorite, spineless sniveling cow-"

"Enough!" His father cut him off in a sharp tone and fixed his son with a stern look. Lowering his voice slightly, he continued "It will not do any good to dwell on the past, so that is where you will leave it. I do not want to hear another word on the subject, is that clear?"

The young blonde released a steady stream of air out his nose, but nodded nonetheless. His father was right, it would do him no good to dwell on the past, but he had seen the papers and heard the words that the public threw his way. He was well aware of the names they called him as well as the horrible things they said about his family. Never mind the fact that he didn't kill former Headmaster Dumbledore that night, or anyone over the course of the entire war. Never mind that his entire family had been forced to serve the Dark Lord under threat of torture and death, or that the lie his mother told for Potter that night in the forest was how the Order had more or less won the war. In their eyes, they were guilty no matter what and many had been outraged that they weren't all immediately thrown into Azkaban.

Though the Malfoys were relieved that they hadn't been sentenced, that didn't mean they'd gotten off lightly. Draco and his mother were placed on strict probation, while his father was put under house arrest. Lucius could not set one foot off the property of the manner or he'd be whisked away to Azkaban quicker than he could blink, and even the suspicion of foul play on the other two Malfoy's part would result in the same fate. The fines they'd had to pay had been large and many, though Draco was positive the Ministry had added some bogus offenses and overcharged them just out of spite. Had the Malfoy fortune not been so vast along with that of the Black fortune from his mother's side, he was sure they'd have gone bankrupt. They were subjected to monthly random searches from the Aurors and the Minister's secretary brat Percy Weasley, who claimed they were just making sure nothing suspicious was going on. However, these searches always came at the most inopportune times such as the middle of the night or ungodly hours in the morning with the Aurors being as loud and reckless as they could possibly be. Floors were scraped up, curtains torn, priceless artifacts smashed, furniture overturned, and family heirlooms taken in to be 'inspected' and still not returned. These had led to his mother's more severe migraines as his father had glared at those who were defiling his home, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Still, the Malfoys took their punishments in stride, knowing that they had a debt to pay to the Wizarding Society. They never commented on the nasty stories published in the Daily Prophet by the dreadful Rita Skeeter, nor did they respond when someone decided to publicly taunt them on the rare occasions that Draco and his mother had gone into Diagon Alley since the end of the war. They considered themselves lucky that they'd come out of the war with their whole family intact and just hoped that if they stuck to this new 'good behavior' as much as possible then one day all the animosity directed towards them would blow over.

Breakfast was finished in silence, the only sound being the scraping of silverware against plates. Once he'd finished, Draco returned to his room to grab his robes and uniform which he would change into once they were close to Hogwarts. As he was coming out of his closet with his clothes over his arm, he looked up to see his father standing in his bedroom and staring off seemingly in thought. Once he caught sight of Draco, he straightened slightly and cleared his throat. "I wanted to speak with you privately before you go."

Draco let out a sigh. "Have I given mother another migraine" he asked in a tone of repentfulness, though one wouldn't have been able to detect it if they did not know him well. He was regretful for snapping at his mother the way he had and didn't want to leave on bad terms with his parents.

Lucius shook his head. "No, she's fine. Although you do owe her an apology before you leave" he said in a serious tone with a pointed look in his son's direction. Draco acquiesced with a nod, and his father seemed satisfied with it. He walked over to his only child and heir and put one hand on his shoulder.

"Draco" he said with a sigh, suddenly seeming much older than his forty-two years. "I know this year is not going to be easy on you, nor am I going to pretend to understand what you're going through. I do however want to express how deeply sorry I am for getting you into this mess." Here Lucius swallowed uncomfortably, but kept eye contact with him. "But I know you're strong son, and I know you'll come out of this even stronger. If there's one thing we Malfoy's are good at, it's surviving and to survive now we can't hide." Draco nodded, understanding his father completely. Though he wasn't looking forward to going back, he wasn't going to cower away.

"One more thing" Lucius said, squeezing his shoulder a little harder. "There will be those at school who want nothing more than to see you fail and will do everything in their power to see it happen. No matter what, promise me that you won't rise to their taunts and do anything that would risk violating the terms of your probation." Draco was about to protest, but Lucius put a hand up to stop him. "I mean it Draco. It would break your mother's heart if you were to be imprisoned and all of our suffering now will have been for nothing. Promise me that you won't give into their challenges unless the situation absolutely calls for it."

Draco knew he was using his mother as leverage against him, but he could see the worried look in his father's eyes and understood the logic behind his words. "Alright father, I promise" he finally consented.

Lucius nodded, gave him a tight half smirk (the only form of a smile he could come up with) and squeezed Draco's shoulder once more. "Good. Now come along. It's almost time for your departure and you know how your mother tends to drag out her goodbyes."

They both made their way to the front parlor where his mother was waiting for him and looking as though she was trying to hold back tears. Draco walked up to her and allowed himself to be pulled into her embrace. She was one of the few people in his life that he allowed to see his emotions, making him feel worse for snapping at her this morning, He whispered a sincere apology in her ear, but she waved it off and brought her hands up to cup his face and make him look into her eyes.

"Don't let their words affect you" she told him with a determined look on her features. "You're better than them Draco. Don't allow yourself to become the monster they say you are." He gave her a nod and let her fuss over him for a minute longer before shaking his father's hand and disappearing on the spot.

He arrived at King's Cross station and immediately stepped through the barrier and onto the platform before quickly heading off to the side and to a spot behind one of the pillars where he and his friends had agreed to meet. The platform was crowded as students ranging from eleven to eighteen were hustling and bustling about along with the parents of first years trying to make sure their young ones were prepared before sending them off. The commotion around him allowed Draco to slip through the crowd unnoticed despite his tall stature, though he moved quickly behind the pillars knowing that his hair would be a dead giveaway. Upon arrival, he noticed that his longtime friend Theodore Nott was already there, though no one else was. Looking up at a clock a little ways away, he saw that they had less than five minutes before the train would be pulling out of the station. He hoped that the other Slytherins they were waiting on were close.

Theo looked up and greeted him, but gave him a confused look. "Where's Blaise? I thought he was coming with you?"

Draco shook his head. "He spent the summer at his dad's and sent me an owl this morning telling me that he was just going to come straight from there. He said he might be a little late, but I hope he's not too much longer. Where are the girls?"

Theo dropped eye contact and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…they were on their way, but…Daphne sent me a note about an hour ago telling me that Pansy's had another relapse. She said she was going to do her best to get her out of it, but…" Theo's voice trailed off at the end, but Draco didn't need him to continue. They both knew what had happened a few months back right before the end of the war and it was an unspoken rule amongst their friends that they wouldn't talk about it.

Blaise arrived a moment later and greeted the other two while filling them in on his summer in Italy. Blaise's parents had been divorced since before he was born and he'd only seen his father a few times over the course of his childhood. His mother had been killed during the war and surprisingly to everyone including him, his father had been there for his trial and invited him to spend the summer with him. Blaise had immediately accepted and from the stories he was retelling, it seemed that he and his father had worked out whatever issues they'd had in the past.

The train let off a whistle signaling that it would be leaving in exactly one minute and many students scrambled to get onboard and find compartments. Draco began to get anxious thinking that something bad may have happened to the girls, but Theo called out a greeting and Draco turned around to see three Slytherins approaching.

Daphne led the way, her long blonde hair falling around her back and shoulders almost to her waist. Her younger sister Astoria, who was like the younger sister to all of them, was close behind, her hand firmly on the middle back of the last girl, making it appear that she was guiding her along.

Pansy Parkinson, shuffled her feet as though each step she took was harder than the last. The pretty young Slytherin was a shell of her once confident self and hadn't spoken a word to anyone in months. Her long black hair was simply pulled back into a ponytail and she wasn't wearing any makeup, looking as though she had just rolled out of bed, which she very well may have. Her eyes were downcast and vacant, her face a blank expressionless mask. The sight of her broke her friends' hearts. She'd been staying with her best friend Daphne over the summer, but no matter how hard the blonde tried, she couldn't get her to open up.

Daphne reached them first and immediately went to greet her boyfriend, Theo, with a kiss on the cheek. They'd had a mutual attraction to each other for years, but had only been together since June.

"Sorry we're late" she offered apologetically once she'd greeted the others.

"Not a problem, you're here now" Theo replied cheerily.

Draco looked over at Pansy, wishing he could help her but not knowing what to do. "Hey Pans" he tried. "You're looking…well."

Everyone carefully watched her, hoping for some sign of the girl she was before, but there was none. She didn't say anything, nor did she lift her eyes from the ground, but she did give a slight nod with her head to acknowledge that she'd at least heard Draco.

Daphne let out a sigh, then looked over at the train. "Well, I guess it's now or never" she said as optimistically as she could. The six made their way through the much less crowded platform, not missing the sneers and indignant looks sent their way by the parents and patrons that had come to see their kids off, including the Weasleys. Draco noticed that Percy was with them and had to fight down the urge to send a hex his way. The last time their home had been raided, he'd taken it upon himself to personally search Draco's room and go through his things. He'd taken a few priceless artifacts left to him by his now deceased grandparents, claiming that they could contain all sorts of vile dark magic, though they both knew that wasn't true. He doubted he'd ever see them again.

Just as Draco stepped on the train, the doors closed behind them and the train began to move. Noticing the almost deafening silence around them, he looked up to see that he and the other five were on the receiving end of some very menacing glares from the few students who were not already in compartments. He scowled at them and gave Astoria a little push to try and get them moving and away from all these tossers. As they passed, whispers started though they could hear everything being said.

"…nothing but scum…"

"…cowards…"

"…death eater bastards…"

"...why the ministry thought they should be allowed back…"

"…evil…"

"…vile…"

"…should all be locked up in Azkaban…"

The list went on and on and Draco had to grind his teeth together to keep himself from spitting a few insults back. He'd made a promise to his father and he wasn't going to break it after only a couple of hours.

All of the compartments they'd passed so far were full, but finally they came upon one that had only one occupant, their fellow housemate Gregory Goyle. Theo, who had been leading the way, opened the door and ushered the girls in as fast as he could as though trying to shield them from the insults which were getting much worse. Draco brought up the last of the group and slammed the door shut behind them, his temper starting to flair. What right did they have to judge him? To judge any of them for that matter? They had no idea what they'd been through, nor the circumstances that led them to being on the wrong side of the war. They couldn't possibly fathom what it was like to stand before the darkest wizard of all time with the fear of losing everything they held dear hanging over them if they refused to do his bidding.

The group all took seats and made themselves comfortable and began talking about what they'd been up to since the last time they'd seen each other, trying to act as though this were a normal year like any other. The trolley came by once they'd reached the halfway point and everyone except Pansy bought something. She had remained quiet and still, staring at the compartment floor and only eating with Daphne and Astoria gently coaxing her, though it wasn't much.

Aside from the insults when they'd first boarded, no further instance had occurred and Draco was beginning to relax until he was startled by the compartment door suddenly flying open.

"What the-"he started, but before he could finish, two objects were thrown into their compartment and the door was quickly pulled shut just as fast as it had been opened. Draco looked down and immediately recognized the objects, but before he could shout a warning at his friends, two loud BANGs could be heard and the compartment was suddenly filled with smoke and a foul stench that permeated through the air. Draco pulled his shirt over his nose, the smell making him gag, and tried to open the door, but was shocked to find that it wouldn't budge. Someone was either holding it from the outside, or it was spelled closed.

Someone had thrown stink bombs into their compartment from the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes store. These stink bombs weren't like normal ones however, they were much worse. They odor was spelled to seep into the skin and clothes of the person it was targeted at, and the horrible smell could last for up to a week.

The smoke finally cleared and the Slytherins each had a look of outrage, indignation, or shock on their faces. Even Pansy's eyes had begun to fill with tears. From the outside they heard laughter and the sound of footsteps retreating, meaning that someone had been holding the compartment door shut.

Theo jumped to his feet, wand in front of him, and a fierce look on his face. "I'll kill them" he growled stalking to the compartment door, intending to make good on his threat. Before he could wrench it open, Daphne hurriedly grabbed his arm.

"No, Theo don't! You're only going to make it worse on yourself" she pleaded with him. He turned to give her a disbelieving look.

"What? Am I supposed to just let them get away with it?" he asked indignantly.

"Yes" she answered, her eyes watering though Draco couldn't tell if it was from tears or the smell. Theo scoffed and tried to shake her off, but she held tighter. "Please Theo" she begged, sounding as though she were on the verge of hysterics. "This is what they want, to rile us up. They know that if we retaliate, we'll be the ones to pay for it, not them. You heard the judge at our trials. One slip up, and they'll throw us in Azkaban."

Her words seemed to penetrate his thinking, though he still held his wand out in front of him. He was debating with himself on what to do.

"Don't do it" she pleaded, a few tears actually escaping her eyes this time. "Please just let it go."

"She's right Theo" Draco said, looking over at his friend. "We can't afford to screw up this year, and they know that." Finally Theo sighed and nodded, putting his wand back in his robes and allowing Daphne to pull him back to their seats. She shot Draco an appreciative look.

For his part, Draco was thoroughly pissed. He wanted nothing more than to go with Theo and give the wankers who'd thrown the bombs a lesson they'd never forget. But he couldn't, and it was killing him. He walked back over to his seat and flung himself down, staring angrily out the window. The smell in the air was still atrocious, and they were now going to smell like hippogriff dung for at least a few days, especially since it had gotten on their uniforms. As he continued to watch the scenery roll by, he knew keeping his promise to his father was going to be much harder than he thought.

**Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**AN: Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed! I forgot to do this in the first chapter, but I do want to give a warning. This fic will eventually deal with some darker themes. It won't be for a while, but I will try to give a fair warning once we reach it in case some of you are uncomfortable with that.**

"…disgusting and evil. Who knows what kind of nefarious plans they've got in store for us this year" Susan Bones whispered to a fellow classmate. It wasn't much of a whisper though, because Draco could hear every word as he passed by. That was probably the point.

He gritted his teeth and continued walking down the hall, paying no attention to the gossip and slander around him, but he was so sick of it all. Everywhere he went, someone had something to say. A few of the braver ones had the gall to shout insults to his face, and walking away without retaliating had been one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. If it had been this bad for him, he was sure it was so for his friends as well.

And to think it was only the third day they'd been back.

The opening feast had gone as was to be expected. McGonagall had given basically the same speech that Dumbledore always had, though she did request a moment of silence for all the fallen who would not be returning this year. At this, nearly every eye in the great hall had fallen onto their table, hatred shining through. Moving on quickly, she'd announced Head Boy position had been given to Ernie Macmillan, and Head Girl to none other than Hermione Granger, though that surprised no one. Draco had clutched his fork a little tighter, wondering how on earth Ernie had gotten the position. As far as he knew, he wasn't even third in the class.

After that, the sorting had taken place. The new students were pretty evenly distributed throughout the four houses and received loud shouts and cheers anytime the hat called out Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. Slytherin however, was met with much less enthusiasm, a few of the fifth years and under at their table clapping politely as the student scrambled to a seat. A few of the other houses even booed, though one look from McGonagall stopped those pretty quickly. She seemed to be the only staff member who cared, except for Slughorn.

Once the actual feasting had begun, Draco and his friends tried to eat in peace as well as try to get Pansy to eat something. She'd become much thinner over the summer, though Daphne and Astoria had tried relentlessly to keep her nourished. Only a few minutes after they'd begun eating, a chicken bone came sailing through the air and hit Blaise in the shoulder. Disgusted, he looked across the hall to see who had dared throw it, but no one met his gaze although snickers could be heard very clearly from the Gryffindor table. After that, more food had inconspicuously come flying at them, and by the time they had decided to just get up and leave, bits of food and bone were stuck to their clothes and hair.

On their way out, his friends were stopped by both McGonagall and Slughorn who inquired why they stunk so badly. Daphne relayed the incident on the train before their arrival, and McGonagall had them all sent down to Slughorn's office while she went to send a letter to the twins who owned the shop. She basically told them that if they did not send the antidote to the stink bomb recipe immediately, she would ban all Weasley products from the grounds, thus serving a detrimental blow to their business should they choose not to cooperate. An owl was sent half an hour later containing the instructions for brewing it, and Slughorn whipped it up in no time. At least now they didn't stink on top of everything else.

The first day of classes came and went without any major incidence. No one apart from their own house spoke to them, and even the teaching staff ignored them or gave them disgusted sneers. For their part, they stuck together and tried to keep a low profile as much as possible. They knew not to walk alone in the corridors, lest they be cornered and drawn into an unfair situation. He, Blaise, and Theo had also made an agreement to have at least one of them with the girls at all times, and if they couldn't, then they'd send Goyle. Though he wasn't the brightest or the most gifted wizard, they hoped his large size would be an intimidation.

Taunts and jeers were thrown around behind their back, and a few rather vicious notes found their way onto his desk during the middle of lessons. He merely threw them away or incinerated them without giving the culprits so much as a passing glance.

Once they'd gotten back to the common rooms however, they were in for a surprise. Many of the first and second years were huddled around the fireplace and furniture, each with mad, scared, or despondent looks on their faces. A few of the young girls even had tears in their eyes. Ever being the soft hearted one, Daphne approached and asked what had happened. Their answers were all the same. In short, they were being bullied mercilessly by the other houses, and especially upperclassmen. The news made Draco angry. What kind of arsehole did that to children? Even in his previous years, he had never gone after the younger students, choosing instead to focus on those his own age. Yes, that may have made him a bully as well, but he still considered that better than those other idiots.

Pulling himself mentally back to the present, he walked through the doors of the Great Hall and headed immediately to the Slytherin table. All of his group was already there and greeted him as he sat down, except Pansy who was pushing peas aimlessly around her plate.

"Any incidences?" he asked them as he began filling his plate.

They all shook their heads, and enjoyed a few moments of conversation just like old times. Thankfully, no food was thrown at them this time which he'd supposed was McGonagall's doing since she'd seen the state of them that first night. He was glad for the break seeing how he abhorred being anything less than squeaky clean at all times. Much too soon for their liking, lunch was over and they had fifteen minutes to get to their next class.

As he stood up, Daphne came to his side getting his attention. "Draco" she said in a hushed voice. "I was just looking over Pansy's schedule. She has Arithmancy next. None of us have taken that class this semester."

Draco frowned and looked over at the dark haired girl, whom was standing a little ways away and had resumed staring at the floor. She'd always been particularly good at that subject, and had a way with numbers. Since it was not on their required curriculum for their last year, most seventh years had opted not to take it, but Pansy must have signed up at the end of last year before…

Shaking his head to clear it, he turned back to Daphne and gave a sigh. "Alright, don't worry. I have charms next which isn't too far from her class. I'll walk her there."

Daphne gave a relieved nod. "Okay. Astoria has Care of Magical Creatures and Hagrid usually releases early. She can meet her at the end?"

Draco nodded. "Sure, but tell her to wait for me. I don't want them walking alone." With that he got up and approached Pansy, gently placing his arm on the middle of her back. "Come on Pans. Time to go" he said, guiding her out of the Great Hall. They'd been smart enough to hold back for a few minutes, making sure most students had already filed out and were on their way to classes. On the way, Draco talked to Pansy as he would have normally. Though she didn't respond, he liked to think that he was helping her in some way.

Once they reached the Arithmancy classroom, Draco stopped Pansy from going inside and steered her to face him. "Astoria is going to meet you here at the end of class. Stay here and wait for me before going to your next one, okay?" Pansy gave a slight nod in the affirmative and Draco gave her a tight smile.

"Mr. Malfoy" a sharp voice barked, and he looked up to see Professor Vector glaring down her nose at him (Although the sight was a little funny, considering he had a good five inches on the short, round woman). "Are you taking this class?"

"No Professor" he answered as politely as he could. "I was just walking Pan-"

"Then I suggest you get to your class immediately" she snapped, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Miss Parkinson is more than capable of walking herself to class."

Draco gritted his teeth and nodded, taking his hand off Pansy's shoulder. It wasn't like he was going to be late to class, he still had five minutes. He turned on his heel and made it seem as though he were walking away, until he heard the rude woman retreating into her class. He turned around and looked into the classroom to find that Pansy had taken a seat in the back by herself, and stared aimlessly ahead, her eyes unfocused. He sighed and made his way to his own class, wondering if the girl he'd been friends with since childhood would ever be the same again.

* * *

Hermione made her way down the corridor as fast as she could without running. She was already late, but that didn't stop her from practically flying through the halls. Though it was only the third day of term, she'd already been bogged down with her Head Girl responsibilities. How was that even possible?

After holding a meeting with the prefects on the train, she'd made the rounds schedule herself and had partnered everyone together on her own. She'd given them out at the meeting last night, and since then had gotten nothing but complaints. This one didn't want to be paired with that one, that one couldn't patrol on this day because of quidditch practice, this one had already made plans for this day; the list went on and on.

Then there was the fact that she'd been practically stalked by the younger students her entire time back. They couldn't believe the Hermione Granger was here in the flesh and followed her constantly, asking ridiculous questions or trying to get her to recount her tales from the previous year. As if she wanted to relive that time in her life so soon after it had occurred. She'd tried politely declining, but once they started waiting outside her private quarters, she'd had to put her foot down and be much more forceful. They seemed to have finally taken the hint, because none of them followed her today though the staring continued. She felt like some kind of animal on display.

She hated all the new attention she'd gotten during the war, never having liked being in the spotlight. Her boyfriend Ron on the other hand, soaked it up and took to his new celebrity status quite proudly. He had no problem retelling stories from their time on the run and just last night had been entertaining a group of Gryffindors in their common room. Hermione had gone up after her prefect meeting, hoping to spend a little time with him after the stressful day she'd had, but Ron didn't even acknowledge her until he'd finished his tales. By then it was quite late and she'd decided she may as well just head back to her room and go to bed. Oblivious to her annoyance, Ron had given her a quick chaste kiss, then followed Seamus and Dean up to the boy's dormitory to probably discuss quidditch or something. She was more than a little irked with his behavior, but was too tired to do anything right then.

Her other friend Harry had opted not to return this year. With everything that happened last year, he needed a break and had gone into hiding. Only Hermione knew where he was, though reporters made many speculations. He was still in England, but had taken back to the muggle world and went by a different name to avoid being found out. He wasn't leaving the Wizarding World by any means, he would just return when he was ready. Hermione could understand that, even though she was upset that her other best friend wouldn't be by her side at Hogwarts like always. Oh well, it wasn't like he needed a completed education anyway. He was Harry Potter, the Chosen One who'd vanquished Voldemort, and he wouldn't have any trouble obtaining a job.

On top of her studies and Head Girl duties this year, McGonagall had told her that she wanted a Yule dance organized this year, and possibly one towards the end of the year. If things continued going the way they had been so far, she didn't know how she was going to find the time to plan for one, let alone two balls. It wasn't as though the Head Boy would be any help, seeing how he'd been successful in shirking his duties thus far. Seriously, how had Ernie even gotten the position? As far as she knew, he wasn't even third in their year!

She finally made it to her class, slightly out of breath. She took a few seconds to compose herself, then entered the classroom. Professor Vector stopped lecturing to see who had disturbed her class, but upon seeing Hermione, she smiled warmly.

"My apologies Professor, I was helping a lost student" she offered.

"No worries my dear, after all your Head duties are very important" Vector replied before turning back and continuing where she left off. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, then looked around the room. A few students were staring at her, but she noticed that all of the seats were full before her eyes fell to the back of the room. One seat was left open, but the seat next to it was occupied. The person sitting there made her frown. Pansy Parkinson.

This girl had been a pain in her side since her first year at Hogwarts, so she wasn't exactly jumping for joy at the thought of sitting beside her and sharing a table. However, it didn't seem like she had much of a choice. Letting out a sigh, she made her way towards the table quietly and sat down. Parkinson didn't even glance at her, nor had she even looked up when Hermione entered the room. Upon closer inspection, Hermione noticed that she was staring at her hands placed in front of her on the table, a melancholy look on her face. The Head Girl frowned, but quickly looked ahead and focused on Professor Vector's lecture.

Class continued for a while, the only sound being Vector's voice and the scratching of quills on parchment. Hermione noticed that through it all, Parkinson was not only not taking notes, but hadn't so much as even blinked since she'd gotten here. How odd. Hermione tried keeping her focus on the lesson, but her curiosity was getting the best of her. Maybe it was because she was surprised Parkinson wasn't taunting her like in recent years. Or maybe it was because the Slytherin just looked so…depressed. She definitely seemed a lot thinner, and Hermione could see dark purple rings under her eyes, making it appear that she'd gotten no sleep the previous night. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a lop-sided bun with a few loose strands hanging limply in front of her face. Her pale, ashen skin stood out, making Hermione realize that this was the first time she'd ever seen her without make up.

Professor Vector finished the lecture, then handed out an assignment for the class to complete. Hermione immediately got to work, finishing in record time, but going back to check and recheck her answers. Satisfied, she got up to hand her assignment in, then returned to her seat. Glancing over at the girl beside her, she was shocked to discover that not only had she not done the assignment, but she still hadn't moved at all. Before she could say anything, the bell rang signaling the end of class.

Hermione gathered up her things, then stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She watched as Parkinson slowly rose to her feet, grabbing her own bag and making her way to the door. She didn't miss the disapproving look Vector sent the Slytherin's way, nor the dirty looks coming from their peers. Once Pansy had reached the door, she was immediately greeted by both Astoria Greengrass and Malfoy. The other girl spoke to her in a hushed voice while Malfoy frowned as he watched their interaction. Still, Pansy was silent as she allowed her friends to lead her away.

Hermione stared after them for a few moments, wondering what could have possibly happened to the girl to make her basically check out of life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_Add three crushed lace wings, wait one minute, then add three more._

Seemed simple enough, but this potion was actually one of the more complicated ones. One tiny mistake, and the whole thing could blow up. Draco kept this in mind, as he was not only responsible for his grade today, but his partner Pansy's as well. She was helping by preparing the ingredients and then handing them to him when he asked, but he knew there was no possible way she would have been able to brew this potion on her own given her current state, which is why he was thankful that Slughorn had them work in pairs, and also why he had to concentrate, despite the fact that the Ravenclaws were making it quite difficult.

Now into the fourth week of school, the other houses still hadn't let up with all the animosity directed at the Slytherins. If anything, they'd only gotten worse. During the second week, the entrance to the Slytherin dungeons had been marked with filthy words and insults that were only now just starting to fade. Whoever had done it cast a darkness spell on the portrait of Salazar Slytherin, because he couldn't identify the perpetrators when McGonagall asked. That evening at dinner, the Headmistress had given a strict lecture informing the student body that that kind of behavior was unacceptable and would not be tolerated. She also said that if she caught the guilty party, they would be serving a month's detention with Hagrid in the forbidden forest. All her warning did was make the other houses more careful.

During dinner, their meals exploded, textbooks were charmed to mix up chapters making it impossible to follow along in class, essays and homework were stolen from bags, resulting in failing grades from the teachers who didn't want to hear their excuses, nor did they even believe them. They seemed only too happy to fail them. Draco, who had always had exceptional grades, had already come down from his position of second in the class and was even in danger of failing one class. Like the rest of the student body, it appeared that all of the professors (except for Slughorn) had a vendetta against the Slytherins as well.

What was worse, the bullying against the younger ones had only gotten more out of hand as the weeks went by. Not only did the kids in their year from other houses taunt them mercilessly in classes, but the upperclassmen didn't give them a break either. Some of the prefects even gave them detention for the stupidest things like getting lost on the way to class, or being out of uniform on their own free time. Nearly every day, at least one of them was in tears and their overall demeanor was absolutely miserable.

It's not that Draco didn't care, because he did. Despite how much of an arsehole he was, he did believe in house loyalty and sticking by your mates. But there was absolutely nothing he could do in this situation. Hell, he was number one on everyone's shit list as well! He had enough on his plate between trying to salvage his grades, stay one step ahead of the pranksters, and Pansy.

Speaking of which, her depression hadn't let up at all in the past month. She still wasn't talking, hardly eating, and stared off into space for long periods of time. Recently, she'd started having nightmares again. They'd started at the end of last year and right after the war was over, always causing her to wake up screaming and crying. Daphne and Astoria had been administering a sleeping draught to help, but they'd run out of it about a week ago and hadn't replaced it. Not wanting Pansy to develop an addiction, they'd tried waning her off of it, but that meant the nightmares came back full force. She'd been having them nearly every night, and couldn't go back to sleep once she'd had one. By default, that meant either Daphne or Astoria would stay up with her, which then left him, Theo, or Blaise to look after her during free periods so the girls could catch up on sleep.

He loved Pansy like a sister and would always try to help her, but he'd be lying if he said the stress of looking after her wasn't taking its toll on him. He was not only trying to save his own grades, but hers as well. Her emotional state was only getting worse to the point of now she was a ticking time bomb. The slightest thing could trigger a flashback or panic attack, and Pansy would either scream, cry, or shake uncontrollably. She needed help, but there wasn't any to be given except for what very little her friends could offer her. And the other houses were only making things worse.

"Alright Pans, I need the troll toenails now" Draco said, bringing himself back to the present.

Wordlessly, Pansy handed him the correct amount, but kept her eyes downcast, staring ahead blankly. Draco added the ingredient and watched the potion bubble up, then turn a dark green shade. Perfect.

"Now we let it sit for a minute, then add the dragon scales" Draco told her, stepping back from their cauldron. Looking at his potions textbook, and then down to their ingredients, he noticed that they were short a few scales. Frowning slightly, he turned to Pansy and said, "I'm going to go get some more scales. Keep an eye on the potion, yeah?" Again, Pansy said nothing, but nodded. With a sigh, Draco turned and walked to the cupboard at the front that held the supplies.

Rifling through the cupboard, he couldn't help but think back to previous years, when he had more or less been the most popular person in school, even more so than Potter. Pansy had been her normal funny, outgoing, and slightly bitchy self, and life had been great. _'Oh how the mighty have fallen'_ he thought to himself with a derisive head shake. Grabbing the scales, he turned around to walk back to his desk and immediately noticed something wrong.

Three Ravenclaws were standing around the table, taunting Pansy.

The dark haired girl continued to look down, but she was starting to shake slightly. Quick as a flash, Draco appeared at the desk by her side, sneering at the boys in front of him.

"Back off" he growled.

Anthony Goldstein, an annoying bastard any normal day, turned his smug look onto Draco. "Or what?" he taunted.

Draco pushed Pansy behind him a little more, his eyes narrowing dangerously at the idiot in front of him. "Trust me, you don't want to find out" he said as menacingly as possible.

The threat in his words was enough to make the other two Ravenclaws back off, but Anthony couldn't seem to take the hint. "Actually, I find myself quite curious" he said haughtily, reaching for his wand. "See, I've been just _itching_ to send a curse your way for-"

His words were cut off when he felt Draco's wand pressing into his throat against his jugular, and grey eyes glaring at him. By now, the entire class had stopped brewing and were watching the scene before them with morbid fascination. Pansy let out a small, fearful whimper and clutched the back of his robes as though trying to pull him away, but Draco stayed rooted to the spot and dug his wand more harshly into Anthony's throat.

"You have no idea what I've been _just itching_ to do to you and all your little friends since the beginning of term" Draco spat. He could feel Pansy still tugging on his robes, and in the back of his mind a tiny voice was telling him he was making a huge mistake, but his rage was taking over. All the insults, pranks, and threats were finally getting to him and he was about to explode, making sure that the pompous arse in front of him felt his wrath in full.

Anthony's face had drained of color, but he didn't want to be seen as weak in front of his peers, especially since he'd started it. "You can't do it" he croaked out as best he could with a wand to his neck. "O-one slip up, and t-they'll lock you up."

He wanted to tell Goldstein that it would be worth it, but his words brought the memory of his promise to his father to the forefront of his mind, allowing some common sense to infiltrate his thinking. Goldstein was right; he couldn't hex the wanker. No matter what the situation was, if he fired a curse at anyone, he'd be screwed. With that thought in mind he began to lower his wand, but he was only a second too late.

"What on earth is going on here" came a loud voice above them, and everyone looked up to see Slughorn standing in the doorway of his office, staring at Malfoy and Goldstein.

Anthony took a couple steps away from him, made a big show of rubbing his throat, and then cleared it. "Thank Merlin you came out when you did Professor" he answered in the most innocent voice he could muster. "Malfoy here threatened my life! I was only trying to help Parkinson because it looked like she was having trouble with her potion. Then out of nowhere, he put a wand to my throat and tried to curse me."

Draco opened his mouth to protest, but all around him students from other houses were agreeing with Goldstein's lies by either nodding or verbally responding. Only Pansy sided with him by rapidly shaking her head back and forth, her violet eyes wide with terror for her friend.

Slughorn shifted his gaze directly onto Draco, whom was trying to convey with his eyes that that was not what had happened. The old man stared at him for a few more seconds, then let out a sigh. "Very well. Mister Malfoy, you will be serving two weeks of detention with me starting tonight. Everyone get back to your table and brew your potions before you lose your marks for today."

Under Slughorn's watchful eye, everyone went back to what they were doing. Anthony shot a smug smile in Draco's direction before following his friends back to their table. Draco stood very still, seething with anger. Great, just what he needed. Now on top of trying to rescue his grades for other classes, he was going to have to fit in two week's worth of detentions for something that wasn't even his fault. He curled his hands in to fists at his side, taking in deep breaths to try and calm himself down.

He felt a hand tentatively touch his arm, and looked down at Pansy. She had an apologetic look in her eyes and a guilty expression on her face. He knew she was blaming herself for what happened. With a sigh and shake of his head, Draco turned back to his potion and picked up where they'd left off.

Half an hour later, everyone was packing up and heading to their next class. Draco put the last of his things away, then slung his bag over his shoulder. Before he could take a step, Slughorn's voice called out to him. Turning, he saw the professor sitting at his desk with a forlorn expression on his face as he stared at him. Something passed in the older man's eyes, something which made Draco believe that Slughorn knew he was innocent, despite the word of the rest of the class. He stared for only a moment longer before clearing his throat and saying, "Be here at seven o clock sharp."

* * *

The silence of the corridor bothered her greatly. Silence of any kind bothered her now days, but because she was walking them alone, the quiet corridors were really getting to her. She supposed it had to do with the paranoia she'd developed from the war, which made perfect sense. But a larger part of her knew it was something else. Silence had always allowed her to think, and her thoughts were always bouncing around in her head a mile a minute it seemed. However, in the last few months since the end of the war, her thoughts had conjured up darker images and gone down less than merry paths. Memories of her time in the woods, running from death eaters, the snatchers, seeing her friends and loved ones falling all around her, that horrifying snake, and the cruel sadistic smile of Bellatrix after she'd been tortured followed her around now and were only magnified by the silence, surrounding and suffocating her until she felt like she was drowning in flashbacks…

Hermione shot a hand out to the wall to keep her balance, and instructed herself to take deep, calming breaths as she forced the images in her head away. She'd been prone to panic attacks in the last few months, but she was slowly starting to get a hold on them. Firmly, she reminded herself over and over again that the war was over and she was safe at Hogwarts again. And more importantly, she had a job to do.

Once she had calmed down sufficiently, she pushed off from the wall and continued with her patrol. Technically, it wasn't her night to perform the rounds but she'd offered to take them for the Gryffindor prefect so she could get away from the annoying first years. Earlier this evening she'd been sitting in her favorite armchair by the fire working on her Transfiguration homework, when a group of about six or seven came to sit around her, disturbing her peace. They'd come under the pretense of needing homework help, but really they just wanted to ask her ridiculous questions about her role in the war, thoughts on articles printed about her, and the whereabouts of Harry.

As if she'd betray her best friend like that!

She'd lost her cool and snapped at them, telling them in no uncertain terms to leave her alone. They'd scattered after that, but she knew they'd be back soon. They were like a cold sore she just couldn't get rid of.

As she walked down the corridors, checking for any students out past curfew, she went through a checklist in her mind of what still needed to be done before bed. Her Transfiguration and Charms homework was completed, but she was only about halfway done with her Arithmancy. Normally, she was more on top of her assignments with that class considering it was her favorite, but between her other advanced curriculum classes, Head Girl duties, and trying to find time for her boyfriend Ron, she seemed to be falling a bit behind. Not to mention her partner was practically useless.

Speaking of her partner, Hermione had been making observations about her since that first class they'd had together. If she didn't know better, she'd think the real Pansy Parkinson had been killed off, and some new look alike had taken her place. One that sat quietly through all classes, never did the work, and whose vacant eyes stared aimlessly ahead, or down at the floor. Hermione had noticed that she even acted that way outside of class, whether it be in the Great Hall at meal times, or when walking down the corridors.

Parkinson never completed her work in class and had to be failing miserably at this point. Not that Professor Vector seemed to care, seeing how she only looked disapprovingly at the girl when she collected Hermione's parchment. Once or twice Hermione had tried to talk to the girl, or ask her opinion on the assignment of the day, but Pansy hadn't responded nor even acknowledged Hermione's attempts. Her behavior wouldn't be surprising to most, considering how she had typically ignored Hermione in previous years, unless she was throwing around the typical mudblood comment, but one thing Hermione was not was stupid. Clearly something was very wrong with the girl.

Why she was so curious, she didn't know. After all, why should she care about Parkinson? The girl had been nothing but rude to her since they'd known each other. But no matter how many times she told herself this, everytime she sat next to her and saw the bags under her eyes, or the despondent look on her face, she felt her heart go out to the Slytherin and would wonder what had caused this abrupt change in her. Damn her insatiable curiosity!

The sound of voices up ahead pulled her out of her thoughts, and she picked up her pace. The voices got louder the closer to the end of the corridor she got, and she could tell that there were three, two masculine and one feminine. She also could hear what sounded like sniffling. Finally, she reached the end and stumbled upon a surprising scene.

Two fifth year Hufflepuffs were blocking the way of a small Slytherin girl who looked to be about a second year. The girl had her head bent down and was trying (unsuccessfully) to hold back tears.

"P-please, just let me pass" the girl asked quietly.

One of the boys laughed and shook his head. "I don't think so. I already told you, it costs five galleons to use this corridor."

"But I haven't got any money!" the girl wailed exasperatedly.

"Seems like your tough luck" the other boy said cruelly.

"What's going on here?"

All three students jumped at the sound of a fourth voice, and looked up to see the Head Girl looking sternly at the Hufflepuffs, arms folded and foot tapping. "Well?"

"Uh…um" the boys stuttered while the Slytherin watched the exchange. Tired of listening to their awkward bumbling, Hermione spoke over them.

"Fifty points from Hufflepuff. Ten for both of you being out past curfew, and thirty for bullying a fellow student."

The two Hufflepuffs spluttered and gasped. "You can't do that!" One shouted indignantly.

"I just did" she replied, daring one of them to say something else. When neither argued further, she continued. "If I ever catch you two bullying anyone else, I'll give you both detentions until you graduate, is that clear? Good, now off to bed."

Grumbling under their breaths, the two stalked off in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room. Once they were out of sight, Hermione turned her attention to the young girl in front of her who was using the sleeve of her robe to wipe her tears.

Placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, she bent down to her level and smoothed a few strands out of her face. "You know, this is one of the reasons we ask for everyone to be in their rooms by curfew" she said gently.

The girl looked up at her with big green eyes that reminded her of Harry, and unfortunately still filled with tears. "I was trying to get back to my common room!" she protested. "I was heading there from the library, but those two stopped me and wouldn't let me pass until I gave them five galleons. I didn't have any money this time, so they wouldn't let me leave."

Hermione frowned. "This time?"

The girl nodded. "They've been doing stuff like this to my friends and I all year. They'll only leave us alone if we give them money."

Hermione could feel herself getting angry all over again. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself and focused on the Slytherin once more. "The next time that happens, come by my Head Girl quarters and tell me about it, okay? It's the portrait of the mermaid sitting on a rock in front of a waterfall."

After exchanging a couple more words with the girl about the other instances, Hermione sent her on her way, then headed back to her own dormitory. From what she'd told her, it seemed that those two Hufflepuffs weren't the only ones picking on the young Slytherins. Something would have to be done about that, and since she knew Ernie wouldn't be any help, it undoubtedly was going to fall on her. Thinking of the extra work she'd just given herself, she tried looking on the bright side. At least with how busy she was going to be, there would be no time for those pesky panic attacks.

* * *

**AN: I am so, so,**_** so**_** very sorry for how long it has taken me to get back to this story! I never meant to put it on such a long hiatus, but life and a huge case of writer's block got in the way. Things have started to calm down a little bit, and I actually have some free time on my hands, so hopefully updates will be more frequent from now on. Please let you know if you're still with me by dropping a review : )**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Draco paused from his task to stretch, working out the kinks in his back and neck. Currently, he was taking inventory of all the potion's ingredients in Slughorn's personal store, and stocking them accordingly. He'd already been working for nearly three hours, but thankfully he was almost done.

It had been almost a week since he'd gotten the detention, which meant that his sentence was halfway done. Surprisingly, it hadn't been nearly as bad as he thought. Slughorn had been more than lenient with him, and only asked that he show up on time and stay the full duration of the detention. Draco wisely used this time to work on assignments and get caught up with class work from the day. Already his grades were improving and he no longer feared that he would fail. Occasionally, the older man would ask that he do some type of task to help him with his classes for the next day, tonight happening to be one of those times.

When Slughorn had first replaced Snape as the new Head of Slytherin House, Draco hadn't liked the man at all. Mainly because he happened to like his godfather and the favoritism he showed towards him so much. And also partly because he was never invited to the stupid Slug Club parties. Whatever. Not like he wanted to go anyway.

But a couple of times over the course of the week, he and Slughorn had actually had a conversation. Though the old man liked surrounding himself with popular company, he really wasn't all that bad. Draco had learned that he was a quidditch fanatic, to the point of almost obsession, and had actually played Chaser for Slytherin team as well when he was a student at Hogwarts. In fact, he was offered a contract with the Wimbourne Wasps, but a tragic accident in his last year (a wayward bludger knocking him clean off his broom) caused some nerve damage that never quite healed right and kept him from being able to continue playing.

He was surprisingly quite funny too, and definitely much more of a people person than Snape had ever been. His attitude toward just about everything was laidback and carefree. He believed in living life to the fullest, and once or twice had actually managed to make Draco laugh when retelling of an adventure he once had.

He was also very understanding, particularly to Draco and his fellow Slytherin's current predicament. They didn't talk about the other houses and staff's treatment of them, nor did they discuss the incident that had led to his detention, but nonetheless the Head of Slytherin was aware of what was going on. Unfortunately, unless he witnessed the nasty behavior with his own eyes, there wasn't anything he could do. Instead, he encouraged Draco to continue ignoring it all, and just get through this year.

"Eyes forward, my boy" he'd told him jovially once. "It won't last forever, eh?" Draco knew there was wisdom in his words, but as the days dragged on and the taunts continued, he wasn't so sure he could keep his temper in check for much longer.

All in all though, he supposed the portly man wasn't as wretched as he'd always presumed.

Just as he was placing the last of the Lacewing Flies on the top shelf, he heard a knock at the door. Wondering who would be here at this hour, considering tutoring usually took place directly after the last classes, he walked swiftly to the front of the classroom and pulled the door open. Outside stood two of his best friends, Blaise and Pansy.

"Noticed you weren't at dinner" Blaise said with a small smirk. "Thought you might like something to eat" he indicated with a nod of his head towards Pansy. She held up a plate with two chicken legs, potatoes, a couple of rolls, and even a treacle tart. His friends knew him too well.

"Bringing me dinner? Why Blaise, I had no idea you cared so much" Draco jested his mate, taking the plate from Pansy with a grateful smile.

Blaise made a face. "Please, it was Daphne who insisted. She would have brought it down herself, but she and Theo couldn't keep their bloody hands off each other all through dinner. Made me lose my appetite" he grumbled.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Well don't make me lose mine" he said, sitting at a table with his plate and tucking in. Blaise and Pansy stayed to keep him company, and informed him that, thankfully, dinner had passed tonight in peace. The other tables just ignored them, and there had been no flying food, or name-calling. This was the first time since the term had started.

Once he finished, Draco disposed of his plate, then walked with his friends back towards the direction of the Slytherin Common Room. He and Blaise continued their conversation, with Pansy in the middle of them. Though she didn't verbally contribute to the discussion, she did participate somewhat by nodding her head when she was in agreement with one of them.

Just as they were rounding a corner, Blaise caught sight of something ahead of him and abruptly stopped talking right in the middle of his story. Draco and Pansy looked up to see what had caused this, and immediately a feeling of dread passed between the three friends.

Less than fifty feet away, three Gryffindors stood taunting a first year boy. The boy had his head down, but the three surrounding him were blocking his way and refusing to let him go. They seemed to be enjoying this far too much.

One of the Gryffindors, Seamus Finnegan, looked up and caught sight of them, a nasty grin forming on his stupid face. "Oy! Looks like we've got visitors" he said in his Irish accent, getting the attention of the other two. Once they turned to look, Draco immediately recognized them as Dean Thomas and Ron Weasley. He knew this situation was about to get a lot worse.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here" Weasley asked, forgetting all about the first year boy and moving towards them. Seeing his opportunity, the boy quickly dashed away towards the Slytherin Common Room, which was just down the hall. "A group of snakes breaking the rules. Why am I not surprised" he continued mockingly.

"We're not breaking any rules" Draco snarled at the red head, who'd been a thorn in his side even before coming to Hogwarts.

"Oh, but you are" he continued in his obnoxious tone. "You're out past curfew."

"We were just returning to our rooms now" Blaise said, trying to keep a level head in all of this. "We just came from serving a detention with Slughorn. You can ask him yourself."

Weasley moved his gaze from Draco to the Italian. "Oh? Yes, I'd heard about the detention Malfoy here had gotten. Brilliant work on Goldstein's part if you ask me. But I don't seem to recall you two being served one. Lying as well? You tossers just keep screwing up, don't you?" Behind him, Finnegan and Thomas sniggered cruelly.

"Let's see" Weasley began, pretending to concentrate. "Fifty points from Slytherin for being out past curfew, fifty for lying, seventy five because I don't like you, forty for using the quidditch pitch when I wanted it-"

"Hey!" shouted Blaise.

"You can't do that!" Draco piped in angrily.

"Actually, I can" Weasley said smugly, pointing to his prefect badge. "Now where was I? Oh yes. Fifty for interrupting me, one hundred because I can't stand the color green-"

"You're not the only prefect here" Draco sneered at him.

The Ginger paused to consider his words for a minute, before smiling smugly once more. "Nice try Ferret, but if I remember correctly, you lost your prefect privileges as part of your punishment at the trial. The Ministry wanted to make sure you had no power whatsoever."

Damn, Draco was really hoping that trick would work. Unfortunately, the Weasel was right. During his trial, his prefect honors had been revoked, as well as his chance of becoming Head Boy. His parents hadn't known because they hadn't actually been present during his trial, instead awaiting their own in the Ministry's holding cells. He'd never been able to tell them, too ashamed because he was the first Malfoy in history to lose those titles.

"However" Weasley went on, moving his hateful blue eyes onto the only female present, "I don't quite remember Parkinson losing hers. I guess technically, she still _is_ one, but rumor has it that she doesn't seem to talk much these days. Care to start now?" Beside Draco, Pansy started lightly trembling, keeping her eyes firmly rooted to the ground. "Oh come on" the red head prodded, his two lackeys doing nothing to hide their snickers behind him, "Just one little word? Or have you realized that your mouth is only good for one thing?" By now the dark haired beauty was shaking.

"What's wrong Parkinson?" asked Thomas sarcastically.

"Shut up" Draco growled menacingly, seeing red at this point.

"Kneazle got your tongue?" Finnegan piped in.

"Leave her alone!" Blaise shouted vehemently, coming to stand in front of her protectively.

"Kneazle?" Weasley asked sardonically, completely oblivious to the dangerous vibes coming from the two males in front of him, "Ha! More like Death Eater cock."

Pansy let out a loud gasp/sob, before turning around and sprinting as fast as she could down the corridor, trying to get as far away from the Gryffindors as possible. Draco and Blaise pulled their wands out and pointed them at the Ginger, nasty curses on their lips and eyes promising a great deal of pain to come. Not expecting any form of retaliation, Ron stood staring at them in shock, while Dean and Finnegan had their hands up in surrender, trying to back away. Before any spells could start flying though, a third party wandered upon the commotion.

"What's going on" a male voice shouted from behind Draco and Blaise. Turning to look over their shoulders, they saw Slughorn hurriedly making his way toward them, a worried look on his face. "What are you two doing" he asked, directing his gaze solely on his charges. "And why did Miss Parkinson run off in tears" he continued, moving his gaze to the Gryffindors.

"Malfoy and Zabini are threatening us" Weasley lied.

"Shut it Weaselbee" Draco said through grit teeth, not lowering his wand or moving his glare from the red head's face.

"That's not true sir" Blaise answered, lowering his own wand and turning to face his head of house. "Pansy and I were walking with Draco back to the dungeons. We came upon these three bullying one of the first years who was just trying to get back to the common room. Once they saw us, they started insulting us as well, to the point of Pansy running away."

"I was just doing my duties as a prefect" Weasley tried to cover for himself, but quickly shut up when Draco took a menacing step closer to him. Behind him, Thomas and Finnegan didn't say a word, but the guilty expressions on their face spoke volumes.

"Ask the first year for yourself" Blaise continued, refusing to allow himself or his friends to take the fall for something they hadn't instigated.

Slughorn closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh, before opening them and addressing Draco. "Mister Malfoy, lower your wand at once." With one last sneer at Weasley, Draco slowly did as he was told.

Turning to Ron, Slughorn raised his voice to angrily berate the former so called war hero. "Mister Weasley, being a prefect is a privilege and an honor, and to abuse it is grounds for removal of the position. If I hear any more stories of you or any other prefect using your power to bully my students, I _will_ see to it that you are relieved of your duties and serving detentions for the remainder of your time here. The same goes for you two as well Mister Thomas and Mister Finnegan! Ninety points from Gryffindor! Thirty from each of you for your part in tonight's events! Now get back to your dormitories AT ONCE before I decide to take more!" By the end of his tirade, he was practically shouting at the three eighth years, whom were all red-faced as they hurried down the corridor in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

Once they had disappeared from sight, Slughorn turned his attention to Blaise and Draco. "I suggest you two get back to your common room as well before any other instances occur" he said, his voice much calmer than it had been a mere minute before.

"But sir, what about Pansy" Blaise asked, Draco nodding in agreement, still too riled up to speak right then.

Slughorn released another sigh. "I will go search for Miss Parkinson and bring her back here. It would not do any good for you two to be out wandering about the castle right now." With that, Slughorn turned on his heel and began trekking in the direction he'd originally come from.

Blaise and Draco made their way to the Portrait of Salazar Slytherin, spoke the password, and finally entered the Slytherin Dungeons. Once they were inside, they were bombarded by questions from Daphne, Astoria, Theo, Tracey Davis, Millicent Bulstrode, and Goyle, whom had heard partially about what had happened from the first year earlier. After they relayed the events, with Draco promising to murder the Weasel first chance he got, they all settled themselves around the fireplace and furniture, awaiting the return of their traumatized friend.

* * *

Hermione turned a corner, a wide smile on her face as she made her way back to her Head Girl Quarters after returning from the owlery. Earlier today she had gotten a letter from Harry, and she had just sent off her response letter with a school owl. They'd exchanged only a few since he had left, but she treasured each of them and kept them in a box under her bed. He always signed the letters as "John Doe", a clever muggle concept that only he and she were familiar with, and also so that if the letter were to fall into the wrong hands, no one would know it was him.

His letter had basically just been an update on his life at present. He was living in an apartment complex in Oxford, and though he had enough gallons to live very comfortably on, he'd decided to take up a job at a muggle theatre to pass his time, get out of his apartment, and see other people. He asked how she was doing, if being Head Girl was everything she'd thought it would be, and even about Ron and Ginny.

Harry had refrained from telling Ron where he was because of how Ron's newfound fame was affecting him. He understood that being dubbed 'the sidekick' and always being in his shadow had caused some bitterness and resentment between him and his best friend. Truthfully, Harry didn't begrudge all the attention Ron was getting and was glad that the limelight was shedding on him now. However, Ron wasn't the best when under pressure. He would do and say anything to keep his popularity, and Harry feared that if he knew where he'd gone, he may accidentally let it slip when talking amongst friends, or when giving an interview, leading to Harry being found before he was ready.

As for Ginny, he hadn't been able to pick up where they'd left off with their relationship after the Final Battle. Still suffering from PTSD, he didn't feel that he could truly commit himself to a relationship at the moment, because he was still struggling with his place and identity in the world. He still cared for her greatly, but thought it wise that they not pursue anything until he'd had some time to come to terms with his life now that Voldemort was gone. He'd tried explaining all of this as gently as possible to Ginny, but she'd been deeply hurt by his decision and they'd had a bit of a tiff right before he left. Ginny chose not to ask about him at all, and Hermione was always careful not to mention him when the two had conversations. Sometimes though, Ginny would look at her from across a room with an accusation in her eyes, but never verbally saying anything. Hermione wondered if the younger girl somehow blamed her for Harry's decision, but since she never said anything, Hermione never brought it up.

Hearing the chimes of the bell in the clock tower brought her out of her musings. She knew she was out about a half hour past curfew, but she couldn't have cared less. As Head Girl, she did have the privilege of staying out later than her fellow students without having to worry about being caught and punished, and breaking the rules like this reminded her of all the adventures she'd had with Harry and Ron over the course of her youth.

As she came up to the second floor, she heard a ruckus of moaning and wailing that could only come from one person (or ghost) in all of Hogwarts. Usually, the wails could only be heard from inside the bathroom, which meant that the apparition had to be haunting the corridors instead. Changing her direction, she began walking further along the second floor until she came right outside the girl's bathrooms and her suspicions were confirmed. Moaning Myrtle was floating a few feet above her, moaning as miserably and as loudly as her vocal chords would allow.

"Myrtle?" Hermione asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "What's going on? Why are you out here?"

Myrtle moaned even louder with more gusto as she floated down to where Hermione was. "It was absolutely dreadful!" she cried out dramatically. "There I was, minding my own business, and wallowing in my own self-pity. _**All. By. My. Self.**_" She emphasized each word strongly, getting her point across to the Head Girl. "When all of a sudden, the door burst open and in came _another girl_, who was moaning louder than I, and seemed more miserable than me, _**even though I'm dead!**_" Here she paused to let out another pitiful wail as though it was the worst thing in the world. "I tried screaming at her to leave, and even started to flood the bathroom when she ignored me, but it didn't work! She's still in there!" she exclaimed woefully, floating away from Hermione and down the corridor, all the while continuing to wail about how she was the most miserable girl in the world.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the ghost's dramatics, before turning to the restroom door. If someone was in there crying, it was her duty to find out what the problem was and get the student back to bed. Briefly, she wondered if it was another first or second year Slytherin student who had dealt with bullies. With all of the stories she'd been hearing in just this last week from students reporting incidences, it wouldn't surprise her. Pushing the door open, she walked into the restroom to find the poor soul.

All of the sinks were running water down the basins and onto the floor, and the toilets were overflowing. Already the water was nearly to her ankles, and while walking down the rows of stalls looking for the girl, she cursed Myrtle in her head. As she neared the end of the row, she heard the unmistakable sound of someone sniffling, even over the sound of the running water. Coming to the last stall on the right, Hermione pushed the door open, shocked at the sight before her.

She had been right in her deduction that it was a Slytherin student, but it most definitely wasn't a first or second year. It was the last person she ever expected to find like this, and her current Arithmancy partner. She was leaning over a toilet, the smell of sick strong in the air, with a hand over her mouth as she sobbed quietly, shaking slightly.

"Parkinson?" Hermione called out softly. The girl jerked and turned wide eyes to her, though she didn't seem to want to get up. Trying not to make any sudden movements, so as not to scare the girl, Hermione slowly crouched down to her level, ignoring the water on the floor. Her heart swelled with compassion for her former bully as she saw that the girl before her was absolutely broken. The tears continued to pour out of her eyes and down her cheeks as she watched Hermione warily, her red nose the only color on her pale face.

Tentatively, Hermione reached a hand out towards her. At first the movement caused the Slytherin to cringe, and Hermione paused, trying to convey with her eyes that she meant the girl no harm. After a few seconds, she continued to stretch her hand out until it made contact with the girl's shoulder. Parkinson tensed up a little, as though still unsure of Hermione's intentions, and Hermione was quickly able to assess the situation. Parkinson had just had a panic attack. She recognized the signs and symptoms from having dealt with them on her own so much over the past few months.

As the realization set it, she absentmindedly began moving her hand back and forth on her shoulder, trying to be as soothing as she could.

"Pansy" she asked, hoping that by using her first name the girl would no longer see her as a threat.

Pansy choked on a sob, before the dam broke and she threw herself at Hermione, crying louder and harder than she had been a minute ago. Caught momentarily by surprise, Hermione let out a soft grunt at the force which the other girl had propelled herself, but wrapped her arms around her nonetheless as she buried her face into her shoulder and cried.

"Shh" she whispered, rubbing Pansy's back and stroking her hair. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay" she said over and over again as she let the Slytherin sob her grief all over her shirt. She knew that Pansy wouldn't be able to talk, nor would she probably be able to find out what had happened that had led her to the second floor restrooms, but at that moment it didn't matter. Right now there was someone who just needed her to be here, and she never turned her back on someone who needed her.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Hermione was walking Pansy back to the Slytherin dormitories. She'd been able to get her to stop crying and calmed down enough to get off the bathroom floor by telling her they needed to get her back to her common room before they were caught by a teacher. She wasn't expecting any kind of response, but surprisingly, Pansy had nodded and allowed Hermione to lead her out of the bathroom. The walk down the corridors had been completely silent, but Hermione had kept her hand placed in the middle of Pansy's back in a silent show of support. She was totally shocked that the girl was even allowing her to touch her, but she supposed that any comfort was appreciated, even from a mudblood.

When they finally came upon the portrait of Salazar Slytherin, Hermione paused and stupidly realized that she didn't remember the password. As Head Girl, she was given a list of passwords to the common rooms, but she'd merely glanced over it, not thinking that there would be any need for her to enter them at any point in time. '_Bollucks_' she thought, mentally berating herself. Knowing that Pansy still hadn't found her voice, she took a deep breath, then knocked three times. The man in the portrait glared at her for disturbing his slumber, but Hermione ignored it and kept her eyes forward.

A moment later, the portrait swung open, and Theodore Nott poked his head out. Upon seeing Hermione, a confused look formed on his features. He was about to ask what she was doing here, until his gaze fell on Pansy and a surprised and relieved look crossed his face at the same time. He disappeared back inside the portrait for a moment, and Hermione could hear his muffled voice saying something, and a bunch of other voices responding. A few seconds later, the portrait hole swung open widely, nearly hitting Hermione in the process, and Daphne Greengrass came rushing out followed closely by her sister Astoria, Nott, Zabini, and lastly Malfoy.

Immediately Daphne ran to Pansy and hugged her tightly. "Are you alright" she asked looking her over. Pansy didn't say anything but slowly nodded her head yes. The others came over and surrounded her, talking amongst themselves, and hugging the dark haired girl tightly.

Seeing this open display of affection for one of their housemates stirred something within Hermione. Never had she thought the Slytherins had so much emotion, nor that they cared so deeply for anyone other than themselves. Suddenly feeling that she was intruding on a very private moment, Hermione quelled the questions she'd been intent on asking and quietly skirted around the group and down the corridor. She completely missed a pair of silver eyes watching her go, full of suspicion.

* * *

**AN: I had intended to have Hermione and Draco actually interact in this chapter, but it ended up being much longer than I anticipated. It will definitely happen in the next one! This fic looks like it's going to be a longer one, so expect a slow build up.**

**I feel like I always make Ron a bad guy in my stories, but it always goes along with the plot. Plus, though he was an immense jerk in this chapter, I could totally see him reacting like this towards the Slytherins if this scenario were to have happened after they defeated Voldemort. The chance to be the tormentor to his former tormentors would be an opportunity that I don't think he could resist taking. So, I'll go ahead and make my apologies in advance. **

**Thanks so much to all of my lovely reviewers who are still here even after my unforgiveable absence! You are all wonderful, incredible, amazing, and every other positive adjective that has ever been given! Please let me know how you felt about this chapter, and I will see you at the next update : )**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_The trees whipped by her furiously, yet somehow continued to pop up in front of her, causing her to change her course yet again to avoid crashing into one. Her leg muscles were burning and her chest was hurting, but she continued to pump her legs faster and faster. She could hear her breath coming out in harsh pants and knew that she wouldn't be able to continue running for much longer, but she absolutely couldn't afford to stop._

_Faster and faster she ran, trying to put more distance between herself and her pursuers, but it was no use. She could feel them getting closer, no matter how many times she changed her direction. All around her the forest seemed to be caving in, making her feel claustrophobic on top of terrified. Still, she pushed her aching body on._

_Behind her, she could hear them laughing. This was just a game for them, toying with their prey. Praying for a miracle, she zigzagged left, hoping another direction change would throw them off her trail. It didn't._

_She could feel them closing in on her. It wouldn't be long now until they snatched her and apparated away. She knew what would happen then. The Manor. Bellatrix. Torture._

_She couldn't go through that again! Summoning up some extra energy from somewhere deep inside herself, she propelled herself faster on through the woods. Up ahead, she could see the edge of the forest. If she got away from the trees and into an open field, she could apparate and get away. Daring to feel just a little bit of hope, she pushed herself on, but just as she was coming upon the field, a hand grabbed her by the shoulder with enough force to send her tumbling to the ground. She could feel their sickening breath on her neck as they grabbed her by her hair and dragged her into a standing position. All around her she could hear their laughing, but it was quickly drowned out by a mad cackle she'd prayed to never hear again._

_Suddenly, she was laying on the drawing room floor again, as the maniacal woman stood over her, all the while still laughing. With a mad glint in her eye, she pointed her wand at Hermione as she tensed up for the excruciating pain she knew was coming._

"_CRUCIO!" Bellatrix screeched._

"NOOOOO" Hermione screamed, waking up to find herself covered in sweat and panting harshly. She could feel the panic attack coming on, but at this point there was no way she could stop it. The claustrophobia she felt from her nightmare remained with her as she struggled for breath and started shaking. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on getting air into her lungs but the panic attack was already in full swing. As she continued to shake, she put the images from her dream and awful memories from the year before out of her mind and focused on happier things. Over and over she kept telling herself that she was safe and at Hogwarts, and that Bellatrix was dead and could never get to her again. She continued to think of things like her friends that made it out of the war, her relationship with Ron, and being Head Girl. Finally, after what felt like hours, her breathing returned to normal and the shaking stopped.

Once she was able to get her bearings back, Hermione looked around and was surprised to find herself on the floor beside her bed, and her sheets tangled around her legs. That would certainly explain the claustrophobic issue she'd been having. Untangling herself and putting her covers back on the bed, she glanced over at her bedside table clock and saw that she was up an hour before her alarm would normally go off. Knowing there was no possible way she could go back to sleep after that nightmare, she decided to just go ahead and get an early start on the day.

After showering and doing her normal routine, she sat in the common room of her private quarters and started drawing up ideas for the Yule Ball she would have to put on this year. Technically, it was still a couple of months away, but Hermione always got a head start on projects. And knowing that Ernie would be absolutely useless, she figured she'd need all the time to put it together that she could get.

She spent a good thirty minutes working on ideas, but the more she sat still, the more restless and antsy she became. This was a common side effect of her panic attacks, and she knew she wouldn't be able to just sit for much longer, especially since she had a full day of classes ahead of her. So, she decided to go to the Hospital Wing and see about getting a calming draught from Madame Pomfrey, then head on to breakfast. While she was there, she'd inquire about a dreamless sleeping draught as well.

Picking up her book bag and putting it over her shoulder, she left her Head Girl Quarters and headed in the direction of the Hospital Wing on the second floor. Mentally, she made a check list of what all needed to be done today. On top of all her work for classes today, she needed to set up a meeting with the prefects, as well as make sure she was in her quarters between the hours of four and six. It had been brought to her attention that some of the prefects were shirking their duties and not performing their rounds. She'd even overheard that Ron was supposedly one of them. But that just couldn't be true! Ron would never do that. She was sure it was some of the younger prefects, and she'd make sure to address these issues at the meeting this afternoon. Afterwards, she'd be on her conference hours in her quarters. Three times a week, she had an open door policy where she would permit any student wishing to report a problem to her, and she would see to it that she could help in any way that she could. In the last couple of weeks, the first and second year Slytherins had been lining up outside her door with stories of being bullied or their things being stolen. Many of them even told her that the other students were demanding money from them, but the harassment still continued whether they paid or not. She'd been doing her best to try and catch the perpetrators on her rounds, but she wasn't always successful. It was another issue she'd bring up at the prefect meeting, and possibly McGonagall as well.

Just as she was going over what she was going to say if it came down to that, a hand shot out from nowhere and grabbed Hermione's wrist. Before she had time to scream, another hand quickly covered her mouth and the next thing she knew, she was being dragged into a nearby alcove. Her nightmare from earlier flashed into her mind as she felt terror flooding through her veins. She felt a broad chest behind her back and a masculine scent of spicy cologne and somewhat of a zesty lemon. Had she not been so scared, she would have tried to get a better whiff. Seeming to snap out of her panic, she brought her free hand up to claw at the one around her mouth at the same time she bit down on it.

With a yelp and a deep cry of "Fuck!" Hermione felt the hand around her mouth fall away, and she whipped around furiously to see just who her would be kidnapper was with a wand pointed in their direction. Upon seeing the platinum blonde hair and Slytherin robes, she instantly felt her terror replace itself with anger.

"Malfoy?" she questioned in disbelief.

"Fucking hell Granger!" he snarled at her, bringing his hand up close to his face and examining the prominent teeth marks on one side, and the scratches on the back. "Did you have to bite and claw my hand like some kind of animal?"

"Oh, well excuse me!" she snapped sarcastically at him. "Next time some creep slinks out of the shadows and grabs me, I'll be sure to not fight him! You idiot! What the hell is wrong with you?"  
"Calm down Granger, don't get your knickers in a twist" he replied snarkily, turning to glare at her. "We need to talk."

"So rather than knocking on my door like a normal human being, you decide to pull me into a dark corner after scaring me half to death?" she snorted.

Draco's glare only intensified. Gods, Granger infuriated him! "Yeah, because you would have invited _me_ in for a civil conversation over tea and biscuits. Tell me, would Weaselbee be joining us? Since you and Ginger Boy are attached at the hip now, I'm sure he stops by every morning. How would he feel about the big bad Death Eater getting cozy in his know it all girlfriend's private room?"

Hermione bristled at his smarmy demeanor and stupid nicknames for her boyfriend. Rather than rising to his bait and having an explosive argument however, she figured she would save herself a lot of time, energy, and one big headache if she just got to the bottom of why he'd sought her out. "What do you want Malfoy?"

"I want to know what last night was all about" he answered, all sarcasticness dropped as he took a step closer to her.

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"I mean with Pansy" he said condescendingly, as though he were speaking to a child. "Why were you with her last night? Did you say anything to her?"

"What? No, of course not!" Hermione defended herself. "I found her crying in a girl's bathroom and tried to comfort her. Afterwards, I just wanted to make sure she got back to the common room without any instances."

Malfoy seemed surprised by her answer for a few seconds, before he put his indifferent mask back into place. "I'm sure. Always so noble, aren't you Granger?"

"What happened to her" Hermione asked, once again ignoring his attitude. "Why won't she talk?"

Malfoy glared down at her once more. "Mind your own business" he spat, pushing past her and into the hallway.

Not one to be deterred, Hermione caught up to him and grabbed his arm, bringing his attention back to her. He had a look of annoyance on his face, but she couldn't have cared less. "Malfoy, clearly something is very wrong with her. She hasn't spoken one word since term started, she stares at the ground or in space for hours on end, and she's thin as a rail. She's my partner in Arithmancy and not only does she not help with the paired up assignments, but she hasn't turned anything in all year! She's got to be failing miserably at this point!"

"Yes, because nothing is more horrific than not turning assignments in on time" Draco said derogatorily.

"I'm serious!" Hermione all but yelled at him. "This isn't a matter that should be brushed off so easily. We need to help her! Don't you care about her at all? You-"

"DON'T TELL ME I DON'T CARE ABOUT HER!" Draco roared, causing Hermione to instantly shut up and take a step back as he took a step forward. She was back up against the wall and he was looming over her, waves of anger practically rolling off him as he stared witheringly at her.

"You want to know what's wrong with her" Draco hissed, mercurial eyes glaring intensely into amber ones. "She's been through fucking _hell_ and back, then forced to come back to this shithole against her will. On top of that she's dealing with the all the bloody _arseholes_ at this pitiful excuse for a school treating her like crap, and that's _including_ the staff and all your bloody Gryffindorks!"

Hermione sat watching him with her mouth agape. Never, in all the years she'd known Draco Malfoy, had she ever seen him so worked up about something, or so…so _passionate_. Intrigued, she hung on to every word that fell from his lips.

"And it's not like we aren't _trying_ to help her" he continued in a fine fury, running a frustrated hand through his already tousled hair. "We're doing everything we possibly can, but every time we turn around we're getting in trouble for _something_ we didn't do. All the name calling, hexes, and pranks are getting really old! So you want to help her out Granger? How about you tell your imbecilic boyfriend and his fucking _dogs_ to leave us the hell alone?!" he finished, panting heavily.

At the mention of her boyfriend, Hermione snapped out of her trance. "Ron? What has Ron got to do with any of this?"

"That bastard is the whole reason Pansy had an episode last night" Draco growled lowly. "Along with Thomas and Finnigan. The three stood right outside our common room and taunted her to the point of tears."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. Surely he must be joking. How could Ron have had anything to do with Pansy's panic attack? He was on patrol last night for the fourth and fifth corridors. He was nowhere near the Slytherin Dungeons! And he knew that while he was on patrol, his friends couldn't be out after curfew either. Otherwise, they would be breaking the rules and as a prefect, Ron would have to take points from Gryffindor to be fair. He wouldn't do anything to jeopardize their house's chances, considering he was so competitive, so it couldn't be true.

"No" Hermione said, shaking her head. "You're mistaken. Ron wouldn't do that."

"I saw him with my own fucking eyes Granger" Draco insisted. "So did Blaise."

"You're wrong" she replied, shaking her head again. "Ron would never do something like that. He's a prefect! He-"

"Just because you're a fucking goody-goody who gets off on following the rules, doesn't mean all your friends are" Draco yelled in frustration as he stared at her in disbelief. "Come on Granger, you're the fucking Head Girl! You're supposed to fix shit like this when someone reports it!"

"You're lying! You're just trying to-"

"Lying?!" Draco scoffed. "Of course you don't want to believe the truth when it's right in front of your eyes! You're to in love with that pathetic Weasel, you won't believe anything about him that paints him in a negative light! You know as well as I do that fucking tosser hates us! He'd do anything to get us expelled and shipped off to Azkaban! And they say you're supposed to be smart! Weasley is nothing but a lowlife, poor, sodding son of a bitch with-"

"Twenty points from Slytherin" Hermione said authoritatively, cutting Draco off. "Ten for foul language, and ten for lying to the Head Girl. And if you say one more word about Ron- ONE. More. Word." She reiterated when Draco tried to further argue, "I'll give you a detention as well."

The two stood glaring at each other for a few more seconds, blood boiling beneath their skins, before Draco sneered at her. "You think I really care about house points and detentions at this point? Well, I don't." He made a big show of brushing off his robes where she'd touched him earlier, and turned on his heel. "Stay away from Pansy" he said in parting, the warning clear in his voice as he stalked away from her and disappeared behind a corner.

Hermione stood in the same spot for a few minutes after, replaying their conversation in her head. While she knew that Ron didn't like the Slytherins, there was no way he could stoop so low as to _bullying_. Could he? No, no he wouldn't. Malfoy was just trying to cause trouble as usual. Yet as she continued on her way to the Hospital Wing, she could feel the first stirrings of doubt settling in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

All day, she thought about her talk with Malfoy that morning. Even in classes when she tried to give the professors her undivided attention, her mind would wander to their encounter. Malfoy had to be lying about Ron's involvement with Pansy last night! He just had to! So why was it still bothering her?

In some classes, she would find herself looking at Malfoy. He was always surrounded by his Slytherin clique, but there was something different about him this year. Typically, the Slytherins would be causing issues by talking throughout the lesson or picking on the other houses. They'd walk through the corridors like they owned the place, or laugh rambunctiously at meal times. And Malfoy always made it a point to call her a mudblood at least once a week, or start a fight with the Gryffindors between classes. Usually those involved his Slytherin friends joining in and an all-out spell war between the two houses until a professor came to break it up.

But this year, there was a drastic change not just in Malfoy, but in all the Slytherins. While they still all hung together, they kept to themselves and were much quieter in classes and at mealtimes. In fact, they didn't cause problems in any way and as far as Hermione could tell, they were just trying to lay low. And she never saw any of the eighth years walking alone. They were always in a group, sometimes even with the younger Greengrass sister.

Because she was watching them so much that day, she noticed other things too. Like how the other houses seemed to detest them. Though she never could see the caster, all day she watched jinxes and hexes hit the Slytherins. Not just the eighth years, but the younger ones as well. They were constantly tripping and falling, having their faces break out in acne, and things from their book bags disappearing.

Even more shocking was that the Professors could be just as bad. In Charms, she saw a Ravenclaw walk by Daphne Greengrass' desk and purposely spill a bottle of ink all over her homework that she had sitting on her desk. When Daphne tried to explain this to Professor Flitwick, he coldly told her that she should have been more careful and gave her a zero for the assignment.

The only Professor who seemed to treat them as normal students was Professor Slughorn. He didn't show so much favoritism to them as Snape had, but he at least treated them with respect and dignity as he would most students, even those that weren't in his Slug Club. However, she did notice that as he walked by the table where she and Ron were working, he gave Ron a very dirty look and her boyfriend avoided his gaze the entire class.

By the time Hermione was making her way to one of the old classrooms for the prefect meeting, she was really starting to feel bad for the Slytherins. While it was true that they'd brought some of it on themselves with the way they'd acted in previous years, no one deserved the hatefulness that everyone was showing them. She was going to have to put a stop to it one way or another, and hopefully this meeting would be the beginning. With a determined look on her face, she made her way to the old Transfiguration classroom where they'd be holding the meeting.

Once everyone had arrived that was supposed to be there, she brought up the issues she wanted to discuss. She made it very clear that being a prefect was a privilege and that if anyone did not do the duties that were assigned to them, that privilege would be taken away. She also told them how she was having a lot of complaints from the Slytherin house and that as a prefect, they were not to discriminate against any house no matter their personal feelings. At this, she heard a few snorts and saw a some eye rolls, letting her know that not everyone agreed. Well, it didn't matter whether or not they agreed. They would be professional or lose their titles.

Once the meeting was over, Hermione caught up to Ron and greeted him with a kiss.

"How was your day" she asked with a smile.

"Good" Ron responded with a smile of his own. "Classes were a bit of a bore, but that's nothing new."

"Well, I do hope you paid attention" she said with a pointed look. "NEWTs are only seven months away, and you really can't afford to slack off with-"

"Alright, alright" Ron caught her off with a look of annoyance on his face. "Seriously 'Mione, no need for the lecture. Their _months_ away. I'll have plenty of time to study for them. But I intend to enjoy this last year. Maybe you should do the same."

Hermione wanted to tell him that he could enjoy his last year _and_ still study for NEWTs, but she knew Ron didn't share in her beliefs on that subject. To him, academics didn't hold nearly as much importance as things such as quidditch.

Brushing off her thoughts, she gave Ron another smile. "Of course I want you to enjoy your last year." Looking up at the clock on the wall, she saw that it was nearly four and she had to go. "I've got to get back to my room. I'm sure there are a lot of young Slytherins that have incidences to report."

A scowl came over Ron's face. "You sure you don't want to just come with me out to the quidditch pitch? Seamus, Dean, and I are going to throw the quaffle around. Gin will probably join in too. Wouldn't you rather come hang out with us?"

"Ron, you know it's part of my Head Girl duties" Hermione told him, baffled that he'd even ask her to consider shirking them.

"Well, yeah, but come on Mione! It's the Slytherins. Their probably lying about all that stuff anyway" Ron said.

"Ron!" Hermione chided, putting her hands on her hips. "First of all, they aren't lying. I've seen some of it with my own eyes and have given out a few detentions because of it. Secondly, the fact that they're Slytherins doesn't mean anything! I won't tolerate bullying of any kind. Weren't you listening at all during the meeting?"

"Yeah, yeah" Ron said offhandedly, waving his hand at her. "I just don't think you should worry yourself over them too much. You're not their mother, and they've got to learn to fend for themselves."

Hermione studied him for a minute, deciding she needed to get something off her chest. "Ron…I-I had heard something…were you, Dean, and Seamus down by the Slytherin Dungeons last night on your patrol?"

"What? No! Why would you ask that?" Ron asked, scratching his neck and laughing awkwardly.

"You didn't take Dean and Seamus on your patrol…did you" she pressed.

"No, no it was just me. Really Hermione, what's with this interrogation?" He asked, moving away from her towards the door. "Anyway babe, I'd like to stick around but I've really got to head down to the field and you need to be getting back to your room. Duty calls!" With an odd salute, Ron was out the door before she could question him further.

Hermione stared after him for a few minutes, her emotions warring within her. Why had he been acting so strange? And didn't he just say that he wanted her to go with him to the quidditch field rather than her quarters? Heading in the direction of her room, she thought over her whole day from the incident with Malfoy that morning to her talk with Ron just now, the doubt in the pit of her stomach only growing.

* * *

**AN: Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! Please review!**


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